


party at the end of the world

by fruectose



Series: tumblr prompts [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:47:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24333076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fruectose/pseuds/fruectose
Summary: Percy turns fifteen and life is changing.written for the prompts: sitting on the patio/ watching the sunset (or something like that)
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Series: tumblr prompts [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1756708
Comments: 1
Kudos: 70





	party at the end of the world

The world was meant to end when Percy turned sixteen, but things started to look pretty bad a year earlier, on the day of his fifteenth birthday.

Camp Half-Blood was still recovering from the shock of an attack on Camp. They’d burned their shrouds and buried their dead, but there was still tension in the air. The Titan lord Kronos had returned, and demigods like themselves were fairly high up on his hit-list. It wasn’t ideal. Campers were on edge and patrols and defense systems had been kicked up a notch. Chiron, their camp director, had insisted on more training- more, more, more. By the time his birthday rolled around, Percy had grown pretty tired. He was looking forward to going home to his mom on the weekend.

It wasn’t like Percy had expected anything. It was selfish to- especially when his friends had lost siblings and best friends. Then of course, he was seriously underestimating Annabeth Chase.

  
Nobody ever told Percy that it was her doing, but you didn’t need half a brain cell to solve that mystery. Somehow, she’d convinced Chiron that the Camp needed a pick-me-up and that celebrating a birthday would be the perfect way to start to heal. Percy had no doubt she’d flashed their mentor her large, innocent grey eyes and batted her lids and pouted her lips- Chiron had a certain weakness when it came to Annabeth, and she had never shied away from using it.

It felt stupid to walk into the Big House to have all his friends jump out and scream, ‘Surprise!’, but Percy had seen the hopeful expression on Annabeth’s face, and had no choice but to play along. Silena Beauregard hugged him and proudly told him she’d been in charge of the decorations. Clarisse la Rue chucked him on the shoulder and given him a grudging smile, as if she was saying, _So, you made it to fifteen. Not bad, punk_. Travis Stoll returned Percy’s broken magical shield with a shrug and a ‘I played with it for a couple of days, but… it’s broken. Here, you can keep it.’ and Beckendorf gave him a couple of drachmas, in case Percy ever wanted to talk to him over the school year.

Percy noticed how Annabeth was avoiding his eye, noticed how she managed to conveniently be distracted every time he tried to catch her. He tried to follow her, but either she was arguing with Connor Stoll about how long he spent in the shower, or someone would walk up to him and he’d have no choice but to fall into conversation with them.

“… pretty cool, but I think that the pressure on the wrist is what really hurt you. Next time, I’d recommend-”

On some level, Percy knew he should have been listening to Michael Yew. The guy was only trying to help improve his judo technique- but Percy caught sight of the familiar blonde head as she exited the building and he panicked.

“Hey, Michael. Great talk. Sorry. I need to go- it’s uh… try the punch.” Percy said, patting Lee awkwardly on the shoulder and excusing himself.

He jogged through the rest of the people at the party and burst out into the patio, looking around wildly for Annabeth, only to find her sitting on the railing, her back against one of the pillars. She looked over at him and Percy faltered. He’d spent the last few weeks desperate to talk to her, but here she was now, and all his words failed him.

“Hey.” He said. That was a good start, right? Annabeth gave him a small smile. It didn’t reach her eyes.

“Hi.”

Percy took it as an invitation to climb onto the railing beside her. He sat close enough that her t-shirt brushed lightly against his, but far enough that he wasn’t touching her. He swung his legs and looked over Half-Blood Hill. The sun was starting to set to their right, turning the sky a brilliant shade of pink. The rays fell against Annabeth’s back, giving her a bright, almost otherworldly halo and Percy was suddenly reminded of sitting in a limousine with Aphrodite.

Annabeth raised one brow. “What’s up?” She asked. Percy didn’t mean to snort, and something behind Annabeth’s eyes hardened.

“I wanted to say goodbye.” He told her. “You know, before I leave tomorrow.”

“Oh.” Annabeth said. Her shoulders drooped slightly. Percy had disappointed her.

He wished there was something he could say- but he didn’t know how to without betraying all the secrets he’d managed to accumulate. He didn’t understand when things had changed so much between them. There had been a time he could tell her absolutely anything. Now their relationship had become precarious. Percy felt like he was playing the most intense, high-stakes game of Jenga with her, except here, one wrong move on either side and they’d both lose.

“Yeah…” Percy said. He cleared his throat. “Hey, so…”

So what? He thought. He wanted to congratulate her on completing her quest, but he couldn’t do that without bringing up Rachel or Luke. He thought about the line in her prophecy _\- lose a love to worse than death_. There were many things about her that Percy couldn’t even begin to comprehend, but he understood one thing: Annabeth’s world was falling apart and there was absolutely nothing Percy could do except make it worse.

“Thanks.” He decided. Annabeth looked confused. “For the party. I know this was your idea.”

“Everyone wanted to celebrate you.” Annabeth told him, but he didn’t miss the way her cheeks turned pink enough to match the sky. “Seeing that we were mourning you not too long ago.”

She was the one who brought it up. That meant Percy could talk about it, right? He wanted so badly to tell her about Ogygia and Calypso and her curse. It felt so unfair- Annabeth would understand. She was kind enough to sympathize but also probably smart enough to find a way to help Calypso. He opened his mouth and then thought better of it. As if Annabeth needed more to think about.

“I guess I owe you an apology for that.” Percy said sheepishly. Annabeth shrugged her shoulders.

“Just for how you lied to me.” She told him.

“Sorry for lying.” Percy conceded. “And for dying.”

Annabeth shook her head and stared straight down at their camp. Some parts of it had been completely destroyed, but most of it looked almost the same as it did the day she’d taken him around. The only difference was that it was completely deserted. Even with the loud chatter and music from the Big House, it felt wrong to see camp so empty.

“You’re a hero.” Annabeth said. “A brave one, at that. I couldn’t hold it against you for sacrificing yourself for… anything.” She managed, but her voice was thick. Her lip quivered slightly. “But I’m really happy that you’re…” she faltered and swallowed. “I’m happy you’re here, Percy.”

  
Her words were heavy. Percy thought about how she looked when she almost burned his shroud, the red eyes and puffy cheeks. His heart suddenly felt like it was made of lead. He moved his hand until his fingers rested close enough to hers that he could feel her presence, still too afraid to touch her.

“I’m happy to be here, too.” He said. He took a deep breath. He’d already spoken to Chiron, but it was only right that Annabeth heard it from him, too. “But I think I’m going to go home.”

“Is Sally coming over to pick you up?” Annabeth asked and Percy shook his head.

“No, Argus is dropping me off. But Annabeth-”

He hadn’t realized that he’d been avoiding so much as saying her name for so long. It felt _wrong_. And the fact that it felt wrong at all felt even more wrong. Percy swallowed back his thoughts. His chest _ached_.

“I’m not coming back. For a while.”

Annabeth met his eye for a moment. Her expression didn’t change, but Percy could see the tension in her jaw and forehead as she struggled to keep up the façade. His heart raced and he waited for her to shove him off the railing and into the begonias. Or push him the other way and let him slam into the hard granite floor of the patio. He even braced himself to be yelled at. Annabeth needed someone and he was choosing to not be there for her. He wouldn’t have blamed her for being angry.

Instead Annabeth did something worse. She nodded and averted her gaze, choosing instead to look at the sun setting slowly into the horizon behind her. She shifted her fingers- moved them onto her knee and away from Percy’s, and he could swear the world became just a little bit colder. He tried to look at her expression, but it was all he could do to focus on the tears that had started to well in her eyes.

“It might be good for you.” She said finally, her voice strained. “The mortal… _world_.” She added carefully. “Less complicated.”

She was right. Everything was complicated, and it was a big reason Percy wanted to take a break. He was one year away from deciding the fate of the world. He figured he was allowed to have some time to himself. If it was all the same anyway, why couldn’t he spend some time with his mom, maybe try out for the high school swim team?

But it was more than that. Annabeth knew it too- it was why she was crying. With Luke and Rachel and Calypso- something had changed in their relationship. Percy couldn’t toe around it much longer and Annabeth, as much as she’d like it to not be true, was too fragile. Without her, Percy had nothing keeping him at camp. Still, he couldn’t pretend some part of him didn’t wish she’d asked him to stay, instead. Asked him to help her and be with her and support her. All she’d ever had to do was say the words and they both knew he’d be there.

Annabeth didn’t say anymore and the world let out one final exhale. That was it, he realized. That was the end. He looked up at the sky and tried to blink back tears because gods, he really didn’t want this at all, but obviously they’d both made up their minds.

“Is there anything I can do?” Percy asked.

“You can stay here.” Annabeth said. For one second, Percy’s spirits were lifted. “We can watch the sun set and then…”

Percy was quiet for a while. The horizon had already swallowed up half the sun. He was losing precious time.

“And then.” Percy said. Annabeth nodded and pushed her hand back out until her little finger pressed gently against his, setting his skin on fire.

He looked at her face, tried to memorize every detail- but it hurt. He felt a physical ache when he noticed the freckles on her nose and the angle of her jaw. If this really was the last of their time together, he wanted to remember every part of her, even if it made his eyes sting. Nothing made sense to him.

The world was meant to end when Percy turned sixteen. He sat there on the patio railing and watched the sun set and the moon rise and the sky change color, feeling an awful lot like it had already crashed down around him.

**Author's Note:**

> ps if u have a prompt for me, shoot me an ask on my tumblr @perceabeth and I'll try xx


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